DC region to be test market for car sharing and EV mobility

DC region to be test market for car sharing and EV mobility

The Washington metropolitan region is about to become a test market for car sharing service and EV mobility. Just this week, car2go North America, LLC, a subsidiary of Daimler North America Corporation, said it was launching its car sharing service in Washington, D.C. beginning March 24. Additionally, Audi said it would begin doing real-world testing of its all electric Audi A3 e-tron here as a learning tool for next-gen Audi EV applications worldwide.

Car2go differs from its rideshare competitors Zipcar, Hertz and Enterprise, in that it rents:

By the minute. Members pay only for the time they use the car, by the minute, with discounted rates for hourly and daily use. Parking, fuel, maintenance and insurance are included at no additional cost, and there are no annual or monthly fees.

On demand. Members can use the first available car2go they find, via a smart phone app, the car2go vehicle finder at car2go.com, by calling the customer call center, or by simply locating an available car2go on the street.

Free floating. Members can pick up and drop off any car2go anywhere within the car2go Home Area – in any legal on-street parking space, including metered, non-metered and residential neighborhood parking spaces. Audi, meanwhile will bring several A3 e-tron pilot vehicles here for a year to explore EVs in a real world setting and monitor in real-time how e-tron technology operates in everyday scenarios.

“The A3 e-tron pilot program serves as an important innovation platform for Audi to develop greater insight into electric vehicles and how American driving conditions affect use of the progressive technology in everyday life,” said Jeff Curry, e-mobility and sustainability strategy lead at Audi of America. “We will integrate the data generated from this program into the launch of a range of Audi e-tron models for American drivers.”

Audi is following in the footsteps of BMW, which previously did such real-world testing with its Mini-EV and i-motion BMW 3 and 5 series.